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SciShow Tangents — Science
SciShow Tangents

SciShow Tangents is the lightly competitive knowledge showcase from the geniuses behind the YouTube series SciShow. Every other Tuesday, join Hank Green, Ceri Riley, and Sam Schultz as they try to one-up and amaze each other with weird and funny scientific research… while not getting distracted. There will be tangents about video games, music, weird smells, surprisingly deep insights about life, and of course, poop, but it always comes back to the science.

Copyright: © Complexly

Latest Episodes:

SciShow Tangents Classics - Giant Rodents Feb 02, 2021

Show notes

No, you didn't wake up back in March 12, 2019, this is just a rerun of the classic Giant Rodent episode in honor of Groundhog Day. Be back with something exciting next week!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions!

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @slamschultz Hank: @hankgreen

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:

[Truth or Fail]

https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2015/02/making-teeth-tough-beavers-show-way-to-improve-our-enamel-

http://www.sci-news.com/biology/science-biswamoyopterus-laoensis-new-species-flying-squirrel-laos-01361.html

https://www.apopo.info/en/tuberculosis-detection/projects

http://www.treatmentactiongroup.org/tb/background

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/feb/23/rats-who-sniff-out-tubersulosis

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140816-rats-tuberculosis-smell-disease-health-animals-world/

[Fact Off]

Hippos & biggest rodent:

Beavers & carbon emissions:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-08/uoh-bha082918.php

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/07/what-role-do-beavers-play-climate-change

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13280-014-0575-y

[Ask the Science Couch]

Gigantism:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-king-kong-should-have-been-blue-whale-180962603/

https://www.nature.com/articles/482008d

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/05/120521-killer-mice-birds-gough-island-endangered-animals-science/

https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2012.00534.x

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4358651/

[Butt One More Thing]

Capybara anal pouches:

https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1984.tb05087.x

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Ceri's Weather Shanty - Deluxe Edition Jan 27, 2021

Show notes

Our very own Josef 'Tuna' Metesh took Ceri's already exceptional sea shanty and turned it into a masterpiece!

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Weather Jan 26, 2021

Show notes

Weather is an evergreen small talk topic, and after this episode of Tangents you will be fully equipped to blow the socks off every grocery store clerk, dental technician, and next door neighbor you meet with your in-depth knowledge of wind, precipitation, and more!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions!

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @slamschultz Hank: @hankgreen

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:

[Brain Storm]

Falling animals

https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/item/can-it-rain-frogs-fish-and-other-objects

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/strange-rain-why-fish-frogs-and-golf-balls-fall-skies-180956527/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lluvia-de-peces-the-rain-of-fish

https://www.thelocal.no/20150416/earthworms-rain-from-sky-over-southern-norway

Automated Weather Observing Systems

https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Automated_Weather_Observing_System_(AWOS)

https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_150_5220-16E.pdf

Cloud seeding

https://www.technologyreview.com/2008/03/25/270084/weather-engineering-in-china/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7899086.stm

https://web.archive.org/web/20111123025420/http://www.ceawmt.in/indian_history.html

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169809515000484

https://www.ncm.ae/en/details.html?id=825&lid=575

https://www.popsci.com/smog-cloud-seeding-thailand/

https://web.archive.org/web/20161105045733/http://thainews.prd.go.th/website_en/news/news_detail/WNEVN5903040010016

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-01/ncfa-wcs012606.php

https://journalofweathermodification.org/index.php/JWM/article/view/474

https://www.weathermod-bg.eu/index_en.php

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-fires-siberia/russia-seeds-clouds-in-siberia-to-douse-raging-wildfires-idUSKBN24B1JT

[Fact Off]

Tempest Prognosticator

Pic here: https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/07/tempest-prognosticator-predicting.html

https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/our-stories/cloud-watching-understanding-weather/

https://www.smithjournal.com.au/blogs/science/3898-can-you-predict-the-weather-with-leeches

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2015/apr/19/weatherwatch-forecasting-tempest-prognosticator-storm-leech

https://interestingengineering.com/scientists-used-leaches-to-predict-the-weather

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/leeches-predict-weather-tempest-prognosticator

AMDAR

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020GL088613

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02198-4

https://community.wmo.int/activity-areas/aircraft-based-observations/amdar/about-amdar

https://amdar.noaa.gov/docs/bams/

[Ask the Science Couch]

Acid rain

https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain

http://butane.chem.uiuc.edu/pshapley/GenChem1/L26/3.html

https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/acid-rain-and-water?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects

https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/invertebrates/ocean-acidification

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Ears Jan 19, 2021

Show notes

In the world of podcasting, one organ reigns supreme: the ear. This week, we give thanks to the orifice that allows us to enjoy SciShow Tangents and that also helps us balance for some reason!

Also this week, the world premier of Sam's new game! It's a real corker! Also you will be required to visualize an entire cob of corn, so you better start practicing now.

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions!

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @slamschultz Hank: @hankgreen

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:

[Hear Ye Hear Ye]

Toadfish Calls courtesy of the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home

https://www.chesapeakebay.net/S=0/fieldguide/critter/oyster_toadfish

Sun Sonification

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/sounds-of-the-sun

Whistler-waves

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasa-listens-in-as-electrons-whistle-while-they-work

Jupiter Bowshock

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasas-juno-spacecraft-enters-jupiters-magnetic-field

[Fact Off]

19th Century hearing devices

Pictures here: http://beckerexhibits.wustl.edu/did/19thcent/index.htm

https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/26/technology/hearing-aids-smaller-and-smarter.html

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/773357/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2582694/

Cheetah ears & vestibular organ

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/02/cheetah-inner-ear-speed-hunting-spd/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-20198-3

[Ask the Science Couch]

Hearing loss

https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hearing_loss/how_does_loud_noise_cause_hearing_loss.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11122/

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/symptoms-causes/syc-20373072

https://stanmed.stanford.edu/listening/scientists-hope-cure-hearing-loss-studying-birds.html

https://psych.athabascau.ca/html/Psych289/Biotutorials/17/cochlea.shtml

https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/sites/default/files/Content%20Images/presbycusis.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQEaiZ2j9oc

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Cephalopods Jan 12, 2021

Show notes

Tangents is back for a 3rd season, and things are going to get weird! So we’re embracing the weirdness by talking about some of the weirdest animals around: cephalopods!

In this episode: new games of dubious scientific value and quality! Classic Ceri music ignorance! Big Suckers! And, most importantly, laughs galore! We missed you guys!

[Rhyme Time]

I mean… what citation could there possibly be for this?

I guess ask Hank if you want to know more about Squid Ink and Big Suckers?

[Fact Off]

Bacteria RNA Edit

https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2020/11/20/bacteria-direct-hawaiian-squid/

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-11/uoha-bct111820.php

https://www.quantamagazine.org/new-squid-genome-shines-light-on-symbiotic-evolution-20190219/

The SciShow Video

https://youtu.be/_XvgdNQsmVE?t=525

Octopus Apartment Building

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10236244.2012.727617

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/09/why-octopuses-are-building-small-cities-off-the-coast-of-australia/

[Stump the Science Couch]

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/octopus-chronicles/why-don-t-octopuses-get-stuck-to-themselves/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-dont-octopus-suckers-stick-their-own-skin-180951465/

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SciShow Tangents Enhanced Classics - Experiments in Space Jan 05, 2021

Show notes

SciShow Tangents is still on a break, but we have another Enhanced Classics for you! This week, a rerun of Experiments in Space with a brand new Ask the Science Couch and Butt Fact!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions!

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Stefan: @itsmestefanchin Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @slamschultz Hank: @hankgreen

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:

[Truth or Fail]

Chicken Fat

https://www.nasa.gov/topics/aeronautics/features/aafex_biofuels.html

Bone loss

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=187

Perfume

https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/9-12/features/spacescents_feature.html

https://spinoff.nasa.gov/spinoff2002/ch_1.html

[Fact Off]

Wake Shield Facility

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19920014405

https://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/pg46s95.html

https://uwaterloo.ca/molecular-beam-epitaxy/about/what-epitaxy

https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2002/03jan_bioniceyes

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0042207X01003839

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S009457650000148X

Image: https://archive.org/details/STS069-724-095

Mouse sperm experiment

https://www.pnas.org/content/114/23/5988

http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/kiboexp/theme/second/pmlatter/spacepup/

[Ask the Science Couch]

Rocket thrust

https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/UEET/StudentSite/engines.html

https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/390-rockets-and-thrust

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228785798_The_merits_of_cold_gas_micropropulsion_in_state-of-the-art_space_missions

https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/rocket/rktth1.html

[Butt One More Thing]

ISS Toilet

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SciShow Tangents Enhanced Classics - Light Dec 29, 2020

Show notes

SciShow Tangents is taking a short break, but we didn't want to totally leave you hanging! You're about to listen to a rerun of the Light episode, but with a special twist: we recorded a new Ask the Science Couch and Butt Fact!

Next week we'll be posting another of these Enhanced Classics, then we'll start releasing regular, full-length episodes again. Thanks for hanging with us!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions!

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Stefan: @itsmestefanchin Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @slamschultz Hank: @hankgreen

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:

[Truth or Fail]

EROS

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25788334

MOZE

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-019-0389-0

FReSH

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature10428.html

[Fact Off]

Eidophor

https://www.earlytelevision.org/eidophor.html

https://hackaday.com/2016/03/15/retrotechtacular-eidophor-an-unknown-widely-used-projector/

http://www.film-tech.com/ubb/f1/t004319.html

http://www.earlytelevision.org/yanczer_eidophor.html

Centennial light

http://www.centennialbulb.org/index.htm

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/66009/light-bulb-has-been-burning-1901

https://www.lampsplus.com/ideas-and-advice/how-an-incandescent-light-bulb-works/

https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-history/dawn-of-electronics/the-great-lightbulb-conspiracy

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/27/707188193/the-phoebus-cartel

[Ask the Science Couch]

Incandescence:

http://edisontechcenter.org/incandescent.html

https://physlab.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Planck_ref8.pdf

https://www.fi.edu/history-resources/edisons-lightbulb

LEDs:

https://www.circuitbasics.com/what-is-a-diode/

http://needtoknow.nas.edu/www7.nationalacademies.org/led-lighting/index-2.html

https://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/nlpip/lightinganswers/led/color.asp

https://www.mrsec.psu.edu/content/light-emitting-diodes

[Butt One More Thing]

Fluorescent E.coli for colitis

https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.15252/msb.20167416

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Stefan's Favorite Things Dec 22, 2020

Show notes

Join us as we send Stefan off in grand style by talking a lot about the things that bring him great joy in life: getting yolked, going to the store, and dice. He’s a complicated fellow!

Stefan, it has been a great joy to co-host this silly show with you for the last two years! I know I speak for everyone when I say we will miss hearing your voice every week. Thank you for everything!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions!

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Stefan: @itsmestefanchin Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @slamschultz Hank: @hankgreen

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:

[Truth or Fail]

Spiders in cars

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2014/04/mazda-issues-recall-because-spiders-invade-fuel-tank-causing-fire-risk.html

https://www.popsci.com/blog-network/eek-squad/why-do-spiders-apparently-cars-so-much/

http://delusion.ucdavis.edu/yellowsac.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/10/toyota-is-recalling-more-than-800-000-cars-because-of-spiders/280694/

Artificial Christmas trees made from car scraps

https://www.aluminum.org/product-markets/automotive

https://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/digital/collection/imlsmohai/id/14565/

https://books.google.com/books?id=OlmGjEU7qU4C&pg=PA178&

https://abcnews.go.com/US/ChristmasCountdown/story?id=1414607

Mailing heavy car pieces

https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/bank-of-vernal.pdf

https://www.deseret.com/2014/11/24/20553427/legend-of-vernal-bank-built-by-bricks-sent-through-post-office-partly-true

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kit_car

[Fact Off]

Wheaties jingle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJpeR6GvpC8

Workout clothing that regulates temperature

https://news.mit.edu/2017/moisture-responsive-workout-suit-0519

http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/DiGRA_2020_paper_88.pdf

[Ask the Science Stefan Couch]

Random dice rolls

How random is dice rolling? http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8738/f63758598ca711c49817f9187f13c22a9893.pdf

[Butt One More Thing]

Farting games

http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/DiGRA_2020_paper_88.pdf

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Ceri's Favorite Things Dec 15, 2020

Show notes

This week, we celebrate the brains of this whole operation: Ceri!

This episode starts out incredibly wholesome! There are beagles, Pokemon, gardening… but, per usual, Ceri has to make it all about body horror in the end. Find out what terrible modifications she’d make to the human body!

Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions!

While you're at it, check out the Tangents crew on Twitter: Stefan: @itsmestefanchin Ceri: @ceriley Sam: @slamschultz Hank: @hankgreen

If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:

[Fact Off]

Pokemon memory study

Articles:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-05/su-abr050219.php

https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/6/18531287/pokemon-neuroscience-visual-cortex-brain-information

https://massivesci.com/articles/pokemon-detective-pikachu-brains-video-games/

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7567-why-your-brain-has-a-jennifer-aniston-cell/

https://www.sciencealert.com/if-you-were-a-pokemon-whizz-as-a-kid-it-might-be-etched-in-your-brain

Paper:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332900464_Extensive_childhood_experience_with_Pokemon_suggests_eccentricity_drives_organization_of_visual_cortex

Stanford Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEIuQRHElcQ&ab_channel=Stanford

SciShow Video:

https://youtu.be/UWEZiOZZ0uA

Beagle & polar bear poop

http://cincinnatizoo.org/news-releases/can-a-canine-detect-polar-bear-pregnancy/

https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2013/11/12/elvis-the-dog-sniffs-out-pregnant-polar-bears/?utm_source=reddit.com

https://www.wvxu.org/post/no-cubs-anana-zoos-polar-bear-not-pregnant#stream/0

http://blog.cincinnatizoo.org/2014/09/01/how-can-you-tell-if-a-polar-bear-is-pregnant/

[Ask the Science Ceri Couch]

Oxygen tank organ

https://www.nature.com/news/making-the-most-of-muscle-oxygen-1.13202

https://jeb.biologists.org/content/218/14/2180

https://jeb.biologists.org/content/214/15/2455

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23160832/

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/112428/12953_2004_Article_18.pdf;jsessionid=BF3DFABDCA9CECAFF34406DB7BF9BE50?sequence=1

Electrogenic organ

https://opentextbc.ca/anatomyandphysiologyopenstax/chapter/skeletal-muscle/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-electric-eels-gene

https://jeb.biologists.org/content/212/9/1351

https://jeb.biologists.org/content/216/13/2451

https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/24jun_electrostatics

[Butt One More Thing]

Pigeon poop hair bleach

https://www.hji.co.uk/blonde/brief-history-of-blondes-hair-historian/

https://books.google.com/books?id=Yw_0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT48&lpg=PT48

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Sam's Favorite Things Dec 08, 2020

Show notes

The Tangents team faces their most complicated, multi-faceted, and mysterious topic yet: Sam. Who is he? Can anyone ever really know? Find out in this very special episode.

[Truth or Fail]

Mini terrariums

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-X4g_fCmKw

https://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/Experiment/exper/429

https://history.nasa.gov/SP-400/contents.htm

Baking powder submarines

http://torgo.org/bpsubs/

https://books.google.com/books?id=F2ApK7QnbPUC&pg=PA35#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://marinebio.org/creatures/tools/submarines/

Bo'sun whistle

https://telephone-museum.org/telephone-collections/capn-crunch-bosun-whistle/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/capn-crunch-whistle

https://garydrobson.com/2014/06/03/the-origins-of-phreaking/

[Fact Off]

Oxytocin in art class vs. board games

Article: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-02/bu-cca021219.php

The paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jomf.12556

3D print your own hermit crab

[Ask the Science Sam Couch]

D&D monster

Roving Mauler!

https://1d4chan.org/images/0/01/Roving_Mauler.jpg

[Butt One More Thing]

Beetle coming out of frog’s butt

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/after-being-swallowed-alive-water-beetle-stages-backdoor-escape-from-frogs-gut/

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)30842-3?_returnURL

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